Not much going on at the Zebra residence. We continue to lead lives of quiet desperation occasionally enlivened by minor illnesses. TDG hit the Wake County library book sale this weekend and came away with a couple of things, I made brownies and tried to figure out what we should take to MA later in the week for Turkey Day.

I also visited the mall, which has recently made the upsetting move of tearing down the play area near the food court. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, especially to those of you who don't have kids, but I'm bummed. However, at least the place was hopping. I can't tell if people were buying what they usually do but at least they're all not staying home.

I generally love Christmas/holiday decorations and so on,but I have to say I'm not loving the current widespread trend of playing alternative versions of Christmas carols. I understand that listening to the standards can get boring, but I'm not all that crazy about jazz and bebop to begin with, and listing to crappy 'fun' versions of the standard songs just doesn't do a thing for me. If nothing else, they're harder to ignore.

So I've been thinking about putting together a dark/scary/funny Christmas mix. Since we're not actually Christians, our celebration of the holiday is always a little odd/ironic anyway, and SS and I have found a few songs so far that amuse us.

So far:

Jingle Bells performed by the Crash Test DummiesDeck the Halls performed by Twisted SisterChiron Beta Prime by Jonathan CoultonOh Come All Ye Faithful performed by Twisted SisterIt's Beginning to Look a Lot like Fish-Men by the HPLHS SocietyChristmas At Ground Zero by "Weird Al" Yankovic

If you're on my friends list, I want to know 36 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine... you're on my list, so I want to know you better!

Comment here and repost a blank one on your own journal. (If, of course, you're in the mood. I like memes but I dislike the demanding tone some of them take. All meme participation is totally voluntary here at Casa Bethzebra.)

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?02) What was your dream growing up?03) What talent do you wish you had?04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?05) Favorite vegetable?06) What was the last book you read?07) What zodiac sign are you?08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.09) Worst Habit?10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?11) What is your favorite sport?12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?15) Tell me one weird fact about you.16) Do you have any pets?17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?18) What was your first impression of me?19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?22) What color eyes do you have?23) Ever been arrested?24) Bottle or can soda?25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?27) What's your favorite place to hang out at?28) Do you believe in ghosts?29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?30) Do you swear a lot?31) Biggest pet peeve?32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?34) Favourite and least favourite food?35) Do you believe in God?36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

Thank you so much for posting this. The NF Drug Discovery Initiative finished #21 out of 1190 entries! While this does not guarantee our advancement to the next round of the top 25, since the Amex Advisory panel will have a voice in the selection, it is a great start. Thanks to your work and that of many others I am hopeful that we make the next round.

Voting will begin for that round on September 9. I will be in touch to again seek your support in posting and distributing this information.Best regards,John Risner, PresidentChildren's Tumor FoundationEnding Neurofibromatosis Through Research95 Pine St. 16th FloorNY NY 10005212 344-6633 x249www.ctf.org

It's late and I don't know how many of you will log in before midnight but ...

American Express is running a competition for funding for non-profit projects. One of the competing projects is for funding to study neurofibromatosis type 1, a genetic condition as common as cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy but far, far less well known. It can result in tumors growing on nerves anywhere in the body, including the optic nerves, the spine, or in the brain. If you go to the Children's Tumor Foundation, www.ctf.org, and look under What's New over on the right, there's a link to a funding project for NF 1. If you would, click on that link and go vote for this project (or another project if you see another one you think is more worthy). I'd take it as a real favor. Voting ends at midnight.

Somebody told me yesterday that I have sounded too sad here of late. I will admit that recent events have aggravated my natural tendency to doooom and glooooom, but hey, I'm still able to savor my healthy breakfast of peanuts and Slim Jims washed down with Diet Coke! (The low-carb options in the snack tray at work are a little, um, sparse.)

Next week I'm going on a trip with SS to a beach in Florida, and I'm really looking forward to that. We'll be hanging out with some friends I don't see that often, although I work with one of them (he works from home), and it'll be great to spend some one on one time with SS recapturiing our pre-MM buddy movie dynamic. I don't say it enough here, but I am just delighted with my elder child and how well he's doing. TDG gets to stay home and mind MM for the weekend, but I hope to return the favor later in the year as he wants to go to a convention.

Before that, some friends from out of town are visiting. I won't get to see them as much as I'd like because of the beach trip, but still, even a few evenings with people I love whom I don't get to see very often are something to look forward to. We're also going out tonight to a semi-regular Friday Night Dinner and we're going to go to see my in-laws this weekend. So much socializing!

And friends brought me birthday cake and presents last night! It was so nice.

Oh, I should probably throw a MM leg update in here. She's out of the split and back to crawling, although not yet willing to stand on it. She has been kind of grouchy the last day or so but I think that's more teeth than leg, as a new tooth nubbin is definitely peeking out of her gums. Thank you all for your messages of sympathy for her.

So there's some of my happy things going on just to balance the crisis reports. I hope everyone reading this has their own silver linings today!

jayfurr sent me a nudge (as well as a birthday present, thank you!) so I'll go ahead and describe our latest medical drama. For those who cannot handle suspense, we were not eaten by the sharks at this time.

After the kind of couple of days that make you look at the glass that is your life and deliberately force yourself to focus on the half that's full, I heard these words on NPR while going to pick SS up from after-school care.

We've got to hold on to what we've got,It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not,We've got each other, and that's a lot For love - we'll give it a shot

OK, maybe I'm taking a totally different set of meanings from these words when I first heard Bon Jovi on the radio in the eighties, but that's good art for you, it grows along with you.

The Big Read thinks the average adult has only read six of the top 100 books they've printed below.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.2) Italicise those you intend to read3) Underline the books you LOVE.4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them.